NE North Dakota News

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2023 

Bismarck, ND – The North Dakota Parks & Recreation Department and the North Dakota Council on the Arts are accepting applications for the Artist in Residency program. Artists of all disciplines are encouraged to apply. 

The Artist in Residency program provides artists the opportunity to stay and work in our state parks, offering unique environments where they’ll draw inspiration, demonstrate their skills, and invite park visitors of all ages to connect art with the outdoors. 

Three artists will be invited to stay at either Turtle River State Park (July 14-23, 2023), Lake Metigoshe State Park (January 16-23, 2024) or at Lewis & Clark State Park (June 3-10, 2024) as a collaborative effort to incorporate arts into the educational programming conducted by the North Dakota Parks & Recreation Department.  

“We always feel privileged to host incredible artists at our parks through this residency program,” said Cody Schulz, North Dakota Parks & Recreation Director. “Sharing their talent with our park visitors underscores the importance of allowing artists time and space to create, and our team is committed to making this a meaningful experience.”

The program’s goal is to continue creating works of art that showcase, document, and celebrate our state parks while providing opportunities for visitors to appreciate artistic works inspired by the state parks. Artworks generated from this program portray North Dakota’s beauty through the eyes and ears of contributing artists to enrich generations of park visitors.

This project is supported in part by a grant from the North Dakota Council on the Arts, which receives funding from the state legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts. Art from previous awardees is currently on display on the 18th floor of the Capitol and you can learn more about the artists here. 

“Artmaking is often a solo endeavor. Through this long-standing collaboration with Parks and Recreation, these residencies offer supported time away from the home environment, but also offer nature – glorious, outdoor spaces to spark the creative imagination,” said Kim Konikow, Executive Director of North Dakota Council on the Arts. “Artists also have several opportunities to interact with a public that may not have experiential understanding of the arts.” 

Participating artists are required to be North Dakota residents, provide a minimum of two onsite presentations, one of them being a hands-on workshop providing park visitors of all ages an opportunity to try out the artist’s skills, methods, and/or tools. Artists are also required to donate a piece of art representing their style and reflecting their residency to the park’s collection.   

Interested artists can obtain additional information and an application here. Please submit applications via email to josh.steffan@nd.gov on or before April 1, 2023.

The mission of the North Dakota Parks and Recreation Department is to enrich generations through experiences that connect people and places.  

Original source can be found here.